Beginning painting stage of ‘Transition’

I don’t usually show a painting in its very beginning stage except two important things happened with me this past week and I would like to share them with you. I talked to a very close cousin just yesterday and she told me that her elderly mother had all but given up trying to stay alive. I was very sad but I understood. My mother had reached the same stage just before she passed on and some of my other close friends also just let go and passed from our present existence.

The other thing that took place was two of my friends came back home from the south and joined our art class again. I really can’t tell you how great I felt just seeing them again. Yes, I missed them, a lot.

As I look over at my wall, I see my painting, “Transition,” that I have already begun working on and its relevance . Even though it is in the very beginning stage, several things are going on in the painting. At the bottom of the painting are family and friends all around a body, to the right and a little higher than the group is another figure. I will call Him the Great Comforter, some call Him the Holy Spirit, comforting the group in their time of loss. A swooping figure rises through the picture signifying the soul on its way up to the hand of Christ.

They meet in the air. Just to the upper left are some light spots. As I was painting this under-painting, in my haste, I didn’t paint it all completely and these spots were there. Standing back from that painting, I knew that this was not a mistake, I saw other souls awaiting for this departing soul to arrive and be with them. This was not a mistake but one of those happenings that often appear as having meaning and add substance to the overall message.

I thought of losing my aunt but then remembered the joy of reuniting with family and friends. I was really happy to see my returning friends and I then thought how much happier the soul is when it reunites with long departed loved ones. I often think of those who believe that this world is all there is.

I do not, I live with hope and belief that there’s more to life than what is here and now. This belief gives me energy to keep on keeping on.

I feel for those who live without any hope or belief of more and the sadness they possess when someone they care for dies. I believe that they are in for a very pleasant surprise, at least that is also my hope for them.

Harry Croghan is an artist, photographer, writer and teacher. He can be reached at (740) 852-4906 or by e-mail at hrcroghan@icloud.com.